To the regular person that will see B.O.B HQ on 18th street you would never know that 25 people are working full time behind the scenes to fulfill orders from all over North America.
Welcome to Bob Ritchot’s world.
After the very small humble start in the Unwinder of all places (former club at the Victoria Inn) where Bob would piece together interesting pieces of beadwork for bands such as Our Lady Peace, I Mother Earth and members of Blind Melon. It was a passion that would grow into making and selling candles. The business blew up as Bob says and he had to expand into a house and garage. His candle operation then went to the next level and he entered a chain of stores in malls across Canada. Ritchot quoted “ I was young and no knowledge and idea of really what I was doing”.
Bob might be a tad bit humble because this is where he went to the next level. Opening a store on 416 – 10th where he would have a full line of smoking accessories and merchandise ….. But soon this would prove to be too small and it would be time to expand again. Senate Skate was on 18th Street and Bob purchased the buildings and land and sat on the property for about 5 years to execute the next stage in his business expansion. At 658 – 18th street he would build a mini strip mall with Smitten, Pita Pit plus the new B.O.B HQ.
With the upcoming legalization of marijuana in Canada in March or April 2017 one would think this is a natural fit for Bob to expand into. According to Ritchot he will sell and do what they do best. Right now he isn’t interested in having a marijuana dispensary.
B.O.B. HQ was given the Business Excellence Award from the Brandon Chamber of Commerce a few years ago and will plan to stay growing his business in Brandon. “ We could have moved to Winnipeg or Toronto but we have stayed here in Brandon where the city is great to deal with and we have faced no problems”.
